Feeding mechanism for sewing-machines



G. E. MOLYNEUX. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 24. 1913.

1,356,938. H Patented Oct 26,1920.

IN VEN TOR ,4 TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. MOLYNEUX, 0F BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANU-FACTURIN G COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 24, 1913. Serial No. 756,317.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. MOLYNEUX, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of N ewJersey,have invented certain, new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanismsfor Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a feeding mechanism for sewing machines andmore particularly to the construction of the feed-dog and throat-plate.

In the work of covering seams it has been the practice to first closethe seam by either a through-and-through or overlook stitch, and then tocover the opened out seam upon another machine. When covering light andelastic goods the action of the covering stitch tends to draw or puckerthe goods thereby forming a ridge on the upper side of the goods. 'Toprevent this it has been the usual practice to run the lower orseamrcovering thread under very loose tension. The present feed-dog andthroat-plate has been designed for use, more particularly, for seamcovering, the object being to provide a device which shall automaticallyspread the work before the covering' stitch is made, thereby obviatingthe objectionable ridge on the upper side of the work. f

The-invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in

, which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a feedup-the-arm machine, partsbeing broken away; Fig. 2 a top view of the throat-plate and feed-dog;Fig.13-a perspective view of the feed-dog and its support; Fig. 4:aperspective view; of one of the movable feeddogs; Fig. 5 a perspectiveview of thethroatplate; and Fig. 6 a section on the plane 6 6 of Fig.2.Similar reference numerals indicate similar parts in the several views.H

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the arm of themachine, 2 the cylinder-bed, 3 the needle-bar, 3, 3 the needles carriedthereby, 4: the presser-foot bar, 4; the resser-foot lifter, and '5 thepower-shaft. The needlesB, 3, are adapted to cooperate as usual with thewell-known covering thread-handling element or looper 3*. These partsare, all of usual and wellknown construction, My improved feeddogcomprises a shank 6 secured to the carnor 7 by a screw passing throughanelongated slot 8 in said shank to permit of proper adjustment on thecarrier. The

'shank6 is formed with a T-head 9 having a lengthwise undercut slot 10adapted to receive the feed-dog sections and to hold them Patented Oct.26, 1920.

against longitudinal movement independently of the shank.v The feedingsurfaces comprise the two outside or auxiliary feeddog sections 11 and12 each of which has an integral base 13, or a base made in a separatepiece and secured to the feeding surface, corresponding, in section, tothe undercut slot 10 and freely movable therein lengthwise of theT-head, or laterally of the center line of the cylinder. The outersections 11 and 12 are set at an angle to their bases so as to divergeoutwardly in the direction of the line of stitching, that is, theydiverge outwardly from the operator, the angle of divergence of saidsections corresponding to the openings 16 and 17 in the throat-plate.

Thedegree of divergence of the feed surfaces 11 and 12, relatively totheir bases, may be greater or less than that shown in the drawings,according to the character of the work; as for example with a ribbedfabric sewed lengthwise of the rib or with the Wale, it is desirablethat the angle of divergence be greater than when stitching flat knittedfabrics. As seen more particularly in Fig. 2, the teeth of the sections11 and 12 are cut at right angles to the side walls of the sections andcertain of said teeth of each section are disposed in advance of theneedles and are thus adapted to act upon and stretch the fabric beforeit reaches the needles.

Between the end sections 11 and 12 is a main feed-dog section 1 1 shownas having two feeding surfaces although it may be made with a singlefeed surface, the teeth on 1 said section or sections being at rightangles rear of the stitch-forming mechanism and symmetrically withreference to the center line of the throat-plate.

The throat-plate 15, as shown in Figs. 2

and 5, is cut with feed-way. slots 16 and 17 extending from apoint infront of thencedle-holes 15' and diverging outwardly ina direction awayfrom the operator. These slots are adapted to receive the long arm likesections 11 and 12 of the feed dog during their rising and feedingmovements. The throat-plate has also a slot or slots 18 to receive theintermediate feeding surfaces 14. i

The carrier 7 is connected through feedlever 19 to a bellcrank 20 whichlatter receives its motion from an eccentric on the main-shaft 5 to giveto the feed-dog its stitch-length movement. An eccentric 21 on theforward end of shaft 5 gives the feedlift movement.

The previously stitched work is guided to the present coveringstitch-forming mechanism by means of the usual guide-fin 22 on thepresser-foot 23 secured to the presserbar 4:. The guide-fin 22cooperates in a wellknown manner with the fabric-rib guideway or slot 24formed in the throat-plate 15 and acts tmguide the initially stitchedseam centrally between the needles 3, 3.

In the operation of a machine havii'ig the feed device herein described,the timing of the feed is the same as usual, that is, the feed-dog risesas the needles rise and moves lengthwise of the stitching when theneedles are out of the work, the direction being indicated by the arrowat in Fig. 2. As the needles rise, the feed-dog rises in its advanceposition with the forward ends of sections 11 and 12 in a plane in frontof the needles and with certain of the feeding teeth of each auxiliarysection in advance of the stitch-forming mechanism; i. e. in advance ofa transverse line through the stitching point. lVhen the needles are outof the work, the feed-dog is moved lengthwise of the stitching and asthe sections 11 and 1.2 are so moved they are also moved laterally byreason of the divergent feed-way slots 16 and 1'? in the throat-plate.Such lateral movement of sections 11 and 12 will stretch or take. thefullness out of the work, in which stretched condition it is held by thepresser-foot when the next succeeding stitch is being made. Thisstretching action does not extend much beyond the needle-holes for thereason that the seam and covering stitch .are supported upon and fed bythe. center or main section 14 of the feed-dog.

While I have described and shown my invention in connection with amachine having a cylindrical arm. it is to be understood that it may beused with a flatbed machine, and that any known form of means for givingthe feed-dog its movements may be employed.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis z.-

1. Feeding mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, afeed bar, means for imparting feed-and-return movements to saidfeed-bar, said feed-bar being provided with a slot extendingtransversely of the direction of feeding movement thereof, a pluralityof feed-dog sections each having a shank slidingly fitted in said slot,and means for moving said sections toward and from each other laterallyof the line of stitching.

2. In feeding mechanism for sewing machines, a feed dog comprising twoouter sections, an intermediate section, a support for all of saidsections in which they are held against independent longitudinalmovement, means for imparting feeding movement to said feed-dog andmeans for moving said outer sections in divergent paths-laterally of thelineof stitching.

3. In feeding mechanism for sewing machines, the combination with afeed-dog comprising two outer sections and an intermediate section, of asupport for all of said sections comprising a shank formed with aT-shaped head, said head having an undercut slot adapted to receive thebases of said outer sections and in which said sect-ions are heldagainst longitudinal movement independently of the support, means forimparting feeding movements to the feed-dog, and means for moving saidouter sections toward and from each other laterally of the line ofstitching.

4. Feeding mechanism for sewing machines comprising, in combination, afeedbar having a transversely extending undercut slot adjacent one endthereof, a feeddog comprising two sections each having a base slidinglyfitted within said undercut slot, means for imparting feeding movementsto said feed-bar and means for moving said sections toward and from eachother laterally of the line of stitching.

5, Feeding mechanism for cylinder-bed sewing machines comprising, incombination, an elongated feed-bar having a transversely extendingguideway at its forward end, means for imparting endwise feedand-returnmovements to said bar, means acting upon said bar intermediate its endsto impart rising-andfallin g movements thereto, a pair of feed-dogsections each having at its rearward end a base snugly fitted to slidealong said guideway, the forward ends of said feed-dog sections beingfree and extending in advanceof said feedbar, and means for moving saidfeed-dog sections toward and from each other laterally of the line ofstitching.

6. A feeding mechanism for cylinder bed sewing machines including, incombination, a feed-bar having a forwardly extemhng free end-portion,two forwardly extending arms each carried by and movably connected atits rear end to the free end-portion of the feed-bar, feeding teethcarried by said arms, and means formoving said arms in oppositedirections during the feeding movements of the feed-bar for causing saidfeeding teeth to stretch the fabric.

7 A feeding mechanism for cylinder bed sewing machines including, incombination, a feed-bar, two arms arranged side-by-side,

said arms being each entirely supported at' one end by said feed-bar forlateral movements relatively to said feed-bar, feeding teeth carried byeach of said arms, and

guiding means including guideways adapted GEORGE E. MOLYNEUX.

Witnesses:

HENRY A. KORNEMANN, Jr., WM. P. STEWART.

